Community Engagement and Research Symposia

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/51111

ABOUT THIS COLLECTION

The Community Engagement and Research Symposium is part of the five-campus clinical and translational science movement across the University of Massachusetts. It is sponsored by the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science (UMCCTS) Community Engagement Core. This website features a collection of selected posters and presentations contributed by presenters at the symposium. The UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science is part of a national Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) led by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). This Symposium is supported through grant number UL1TR001453.

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Developing a Strategic Plan for Community Based Research in Springfield
(2020-10-29) Pirraglia, Paul A.; Balder, Andrew; Torres, Cristina Huebner; Lindenauer, Peter K.; Robinson, Frank; Szegda, Kathleen L.
There is a unique opportunity to improve the health of the residents of Springfield. In combination, the Baystate affiliated Community Health Centers (CHC’s) and Caring Health Center—a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)—care for a large percentage of the total population of Springfield. Baystate’s and Caring’s CHC’s have partnered through the BeHealthy ACO to provide much of this care. Because a large and concentrated population with substantive challenges is served, focus could be downstream (i.e. healthcare oriented) or upstream (i.e. policy, social, political) or some combination thereof. Many faculty, staff, and trainees in these systems in general and in the CHC’s specifically are interested and have the content knowledge regarding social determinates of health and health care delivery but would benefit from a coordinated system and mentoring structure to make a more meaningful impact. Creating a community based infrastructure for alignment and coordination among key stakeholders (e.g healthcare delivery systems, academic institutions, community based organizations, government entities, and others) will help assure common goals, efforts, and sustainability are maximized. The purpose of this session is to brainstorm how to further leverage existing and potential partnerships towards research that emanates from needs of the community and addresses these needs in a systematic, rigorous, and sustainable manner. The ideas generated in this session will serve to guide the development of a strategic plan for community based research in Springfield. An open panel discussion of current state (stakeholders, resources, ongoing efforts) and early steps to begin developing a strategic plan will be followed by an open forum to brainstorm for next steps. The brainstorming topics include, but are not limited to: potential avenues of inquiry, model for engagement by CHC faculty and trainees, establishing and/or enhancing collaborations between local institutional stakeholders, assuring input and engagement of the community, and grant procurement strategies.
Presentation Descriptions: Community Engagement and Research Symposium Webinar Series 2020
(2020-09-22) Community Engagement and Research Symposium
Descriptions of all the presentations scheduled for the Community Engagement and Research Symposium Webinar Series 2020 from the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science.
A criminal justice-engaged research collaborative: Findings and lessons learned from Western Massachusetts
(2020-10-14) Evans, Elizabeth; Hayes, Ed
The Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and Re-entry Initiative was one of several projects funded in 2018 by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to expand capacity to deliver medications to treat opioid use disorder (MOUD). Nationwide, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) was the only criminal justice institution to be awarded a grant. The project created a new criminal justice-engaged evaluation and research collaborative in Western Massachusetts that now involves the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), the Hampshire County House of Corrections, and several community-based providers of health and social services. Building on this foundation, the collaborative is now a key component of several NIH-funded research projects. Presenters will provide an overview of the SAMHSA-funded project, report on findings, and present lessons learned from the first year of implementation. This session will also provide guidance on how to launch, sustain, and grow criminal justice-engaged evaluation and research collaboratives.
Speaker Biographies: Community Engagement and Research Symposium Webinar Series 2020
(2020-09-22) Community Engagement and Research Symposium
Biographies of all the speakers for the Community Engagement and Research Symposium Webinar Series 2020 from the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science.
The Opioid-related Syndemic in Rural Northern New England: Findings from the DISCERNNE Study
(2020-09-22) Friedmann, Peter D.
This presentation will discuss the risk and resource environment surrounding the syndemic of opioid use disorder, HCV and overdose in rural communities in the northern New England, and opportunities to prevent Scott County-like HIV outbreaks. These findings are from the Drug Injector Surveillance and Care Enhancement in Rural Northern New England (DISCERNNE) study.
Strategies for Reducing Adverse Outcomes for Criminal Justice-Involved Populations
(2020-11-16) Pivovarova, Ekaterina; Ferguson, Warren J.; Dupuis, Meaghan; Nickl, Dyana
In the United States, we spend $81 billion taxpayer dollars annually on the costs of incarceration according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, but including other costs may increase that estimate to $181 billion. Data from Worcester suggest that the cost of incarcerating individuals in the Piedmont neighborhood of Worcester eclipse the entire annual budget of the Division of Public Health in Worcester. With a hard line on petty crime, lack of substance use disorder treatment in jail and prison, concentrated policing and racial profiling in low income communities of color and poor reentry support services, mass incarceration is destined to continue. The opioid crisis in Massachusetts has affirmed that individuals with a history of incarceration and opioid use disorder are at greatest risk for nonfatal and fatal overdose. Furthermore, homelessness and serious mental illness increase that risk dramatically. In turn, the Governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services in concert with the Massachusetts Medicaid Program, the Department of Public Health and the Trial courts have undertaken a multi-pronged strategy to mitigate those risks. This panel will present three interventions to improve those outcomes. Three panelists will describe and present findings on three studies completed and in process to reduce the health risks for justice-involved persons in Massachusetts. Dr. Ferguson will describe an implementation science study of four correctional systems which embarked on medication assisted therapies for opioid use disorder which has helped to inform current mixed methods research to study a pilot of medication assisted treatment in seven Massachusetts jails; Dr. Pivovarova will describe her study of health status for individuals participating in Drug Court, a diversionary program that mandates substance use disorder treatment in the community for individuals arrested for drug related offenses; and Ms. Dupuis will describe the MassHealth funded Behavioral Health Justice Involved project to provide returning citizens with navigators to assist them in linking to community-based treatment and to address social determinants of health such as housing and employment. During the presentations, attendees will be asked to formulate questions or reflections for discussion. These will be collected and prioritized by the moderator of the session for further discussion.
Infant Mortality: A Community Engagement Model
(2019-03-22) Shields, Sara G.; Violette, Cathy; Hydery, Tasmina; Alker, Heather J.
The Worcester Healthy Baby Collaborative (WHBC) consists of a group of volunteers from organizations with an interest in reducing infant mortality in Worcester, including representatives from UMass Memorial, Family Health Center of Worcester, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the March of Dimes. The organization originally began as the Worcester Infant Mortality Reduction Task Force in the mid-1990s in order to examine trends in Worcester's infant mortality rate (IMR). This work has continued, evolving in response to changes in both the needs and desires of the local community, and has come to encompass several intervention and reduction strategies over the past two decades. Ultimately, in pursuit of the goal of IM reduction, the WHBC's mission is to improve health outcomes for infants and their families by engaging and working collaboratively with the community to reduce health inequities, so that Worcester’s infant mortality rate is decreased. Our work thus seeks to make a wide variety of improvements in the “social determinants of health.” The WHBC collects and examines data around IM by conducting reviews of the medical charts surrounding an infant death, and tackles specific projects addressing these social determinants of health. Although overall IMR has decreased from 8-10 to about 5, ongoing disparities remain with Hispanic IMR higher than our overall IMR at a time when state and national trends do not show this higher Hispanic IMR. Presenters will describe their progress in the last decade in addressing the racial and ethnic disparities in Worcester using a community-engagement model. Presenters will review their work with the local Ghanaian community that led to the Nhyira Ba project, with lessons learned from that project informing 2016 work with the Latino community and from their work to develop Worcester's Baby Box initiative. Throughout this work, real time chart audits by volunteer physicians have enabled the group to remain ahead of the state's data about local IMR. This panel discussion will include the current preventive medicine faculty member who does the chart reviews discussing her work with local college students using in-depth Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze data; the current family medicine faculty member who chairs the WHBC and the current nurse member who is recent past vice-chair to review the history and future goals; the current Commonwealth Medicine member who leads the Baby Box community project funded by the UMass Remillard Foundation, with multidisciplinary groups of medical and nursing students working in the community. Presenters will survey the audience before their presentation on their knowledge of WHBC work and survey the audience during Q&A for ways to further engage with the community. Objectives of this breakout session include: 1) Explain concepts of community-oriented approach to addressing infant mortality disparities, using Worcester as an example, 2) Summarize three projects that use these concepts currently in Worcester (chart audit and academic collaboration, Baby Box program, ongoing WHBC work).
Communities for Healthy Living: A Holistic Approach to Engaging Head Start Families to Improve Health Outcomes
(2019-03-22) Aftosmes-Tobio, Alyssa; Lansburg, Kindra
The Communities for Healthy Living (CHL) project is a five year, pragmatic intervention trial to reduce and prevent childhood obesity among low-income preschoolers in the Greater Boston area. This workshop will demonstrate the successes and challenges of engaging parents as participants and leaders of a participatory intervention to prevent childhood obesity. Key lessons learned; give insight on how staff and parents were engaged from the outset; and what this type of program can offer diverse groups of parents. With a particular focus on the participatory nature of our work, we will describe the stages of our trial and discuss the current status of the project. Presenters will outline how CHL differs from other childhood obesity prevention trials, and place emphasis on their parent health and empowerment program – the keystone to the project. The presenters will lead the group in several activities taken directly from the parent program, to illustrate how parents of varying backgrounds and literacy levels can be engaged around health topics.
Engaging African Immigrants in Addressing HIV Disparities within the Population
(2019-03-22) Anyango, Lorraine; Mbao, Mbita; Oloyede, Dara
The Tulumbe! Partnership was created with funds from the Pipeline to Proposal (P2P) awards established by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The P2P awards were designed to develop partnerships; promote patient engagement; and build patient-led research proposals. Tulumbe! has spent the last two years working to engage the African immigrant community in addressing issues related to HIV, specifically focusing on identifying research topics and questions 3 that are important to community members. There are currently 10 core members representing health providers, African immigrants living with HIV, advocates, researchers and community leaders. Tulumbe! has utilized various approaches to engage African immigrants in research and advocacy, including (1) ensuring African immigrants are on the Tulumbe! core partnership support (2) inviting them to attend various HIV specific events (3) convene community forums (4) surveys and (5) listserv. As a result of our efforts, we received additional funding from the Getting to Zero Coalition to implement a photovoice project based on the communities’ priority to address HIV stigma. Tulumbe! will discuss how they have engaged community partners in different stages of the research projects. In this breakout session, Tulumbe! will discuss the challenges and successes of engaging African immigrants by focusing on the engagement opportunities implemented as part of the Tulumbe! Project, as well as highlight the challenges and successes in developing a diverse partnership. The 6-topics that compose the research agenda and a photovoice project will be presented.
Building Sustainability in Times of Uncertainty
(2019-03-22) Sadof, Matthew
Obama era grants were filled with the hopes of developing and implementing measures to improve healthcare delivery. Springfield Pediatrician Matt Sadof will present his experience as one of the Principal Investigators for the Massachusetts Alliance for Coordinated Care, a care coordination for children with medical complexity and social fragility funded by Center for Medicaid and Medicare Innovation at two urban centers in Massachusetts Baystate Children’s Hospital and Boston University Medical Center. As a consultative program it supported improved communication between primary care providers and specialists at two geographic locations across the state. Relying on an ambulatory ICU (complex care physician, nurse care coordinators, nutritionists, developmental specialists, social workers and family navigator) it identified and developed systems that would streamline acquisition of services and equipment and housing that would improve the lives of families and decrease morbidity and cost in medically and, long term care costs and increased home care costs. ACO and CHIP uncertainty had lead organizations, state and private insurers reluctant to commit. By paying attention to processes and emphasizing data important to each of their local environments they have been able to transform these programs into functioning programs designed to improve care.
Building Capacity in Health Disparities Research
(2019-03-22) Fouad, Mona
Mona Fouad, MD, MPH is Professor of Medicine, Director of the Division of Preventive Medicine, and Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Founding Director of the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center. She is recognized nationally as a leader in health disparities research and served as a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities from 2008-2012. In 2017, Dr. Fouad was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine. She obtained her MD from Alexandria University School of Medicine in Alexandria, Egypt, and her MPH from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. Dr. Fouad’s career has focused on the health of minority and underserved populations, including efforts to increase involvement of special and underrepresented populations in research. She serves as PI of the NIMHD U54 Obesity Health Disparities Research Center (OHDRC), previously funded since 2003 as an NIMHD P60 Center of Excellence. The OHDRC focuses on the theme of obesity and obesity-related health disparities across the Life Course. Dr. Fouad has contributed to the science of health disparities through major studies to identify variability in cancer care and outcomes based on race, gender, and age. She has developed nationally emulated models in recruitment and retention of minorities in clinical trials and innovative community-based approaches to reducing racial disparities in breast and cervical cancer. She has been the driving force behind interdisciplinary research efforts for understanding problems related to cancer screening and cancer risk factors in the Deep South. Her work in translating science into practice has improved health outcomes in minority and other vulnerable populations. As a direct result of her research projects, racial disparities in breast cancer screening in Alabama Black Belt counties were virtually eliminated, as were disparities in access to cancer care. Dr. Fouad has also played a prominent leadership role, both regionally and nationally, in promoting diversity in medical education. Dr. Fouad has led in the efforts to promote minority students, researchers, and leaders through joint programs with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving academic institutions. She serves as PI of the NIDDK-funded UAB STEP-UP: Promoting Diversity through Mentored Research Experiences, whose goal is to enhance the diversity of the nation’s research workforce by providing mentored research training to promising undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical, clinical and behavioral research. In this presentation, Dr. Fouad will review the history of health disparities and health disparities research, and highlight community-based projects that address health disparities.
Poster Session: 2019 Community Engagement and Research Symposium
(2019-03-22) Community Engagement and Research Symposium
Abstracts of posters presented at the 8th annual Community Engagement and Research Symposium, held Friday, March 22, 2019, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA. Some presenters have made the full text of their posters available; these posters can be viewed in the symposium's Poster Archive.
Agenda: 2019 Community Engagement and Research Symposium
(2019-03-22) Community Engagement and Research Symposium
Agenda for the 8th annual Community Engagement and Research Symposium, held Friday, March 22, 2019 at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.
Speaker Biographies: 2019 Community Engagement and Research Symposium
(2019-03-22) Community Engagement and Research Symposium
Biographies of all the speakers at the 8th annual Community Engagement and Research Symposium, held Friday, March 22, 2019 at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.
Keynote and Breakout Session Descriptions: 2019 Community Engagement and Research Symposium
(2019-03-22) Community Engagement and Research Symposium
Descriptions of Keynote and Breakout Sessions for the 8th annual Community Engagement and Research Symposium, held Friday, March 22, 2019, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.
Engaging Emergency Department Patients in the Creation of a Shared Decision-Making Tool Regarding CT Scanning in Kidney Stones: Challenges to Traditional Stakeholder Engagement
(2019-03-22) Schoenfeld, Elizabeth M.; Houghton, Connor J.; Patel, Pooja P.; Merwin, Leonora; Mazor, Kathleen M.; Hess, Erik; Scales, Charles; Breslin, Maggie; Lindenauer, Peter K.
Background: Every year approximately 2 million patients are seen in US EDs for suspected renal colic, and the majority receive CT scans. The objective of our study was to develop a stakeholder-informed conversation aid to help clinicians use SDM regarding CT scanning in patients with suspected renal colic. Methods: Using a published decision aid development framework, and under the direction of a multi-disciplinary Steering Committee, we engaged a diverse set of stakeholders via qualitative methods. EM clinicians, urologists, radiologists, researchers, and emergency department patients participated in focus groups and semi-structured interviews. All groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in an iterative process by a four-person coding team. Emergent themes were identified and used to develop a decision aid which was iteratively refined. Results: A total of 8 interviews and 7 focus groups were conducted with 36 stakeholders (including local ED patients) The following three themes emerged: 1. Patient participants reported a desire to be involved in this decision and wanted more information regarding risks and benefits of CT scans. 2. Clinicians were comfortable diagnosing kidney stones without a CT scan, however, some felt that clinical uncertainty was a barrier to SDM. 3. All stakeholders identified strategies to facilitate this conversation such as check-lists and visual aids. Conclusion: Using stakeholder input, we developed a communication tool to facilitate an SDM conversation around the use of CT in suspected renal colic. Further testing will assess whether this tool can safely improve patient engagement and decrease low yield CT usage.
Stakeholder Engagement through Participatory Action Research at iSPARC
(2019-03-22) Costa, Amanda; Anderson, Melissa L; Logan, Deirdre G.; Larkin, Celine
The Implementation Science & Practice-based Advances Research Center (iSPARC) is a new DMH-funded collaborative effort between the former Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center, Quantitative Health Sciences and Boston University's Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation. With 52 core and affiliate investigators, iSPARC features five interacting programs: Stakeholder Engagement, Public Mental Health and Implementation Research, Technical Assistance and Consultation, Workforce Development, and External Funding. The mission of the Stakeholder Engagement Program is to lead the mental health research community and beyond in working in partnership with individuals with lived mental health experience, their families, and the agencies that serve them. This program intersects with several of iSPARC's activities. It includes three active advisory groups with more than 20 members representing youth, individuals with lived mental health experience, and family members. These advisory groups adopt a participatory action research (PAR) approach and seek to engage community stakeholders at every stage of research, from development through enrollment and dissemination. Starting in 2018, the Stakeholder Program will seek to increase engagement and diversity through several additional initiatives. A new community provider advisory group is currently being developed and the Program is working to assess and assure diversity across all advisory groups. The Program will use a structured assessment tool and continuous quality improvement approach to measure and facilitate participatory action research across all iSPARC's projects. The Program will develop and disseminate products to assist other organizations in initiating and maintaining stakeholder engagement. The proposed poster will summarize these activities and include examples of products created.
Communicative Competence for Researchers working with LGBTQ Communities
(2019-03-22) Pagano-Therrien, Jesica; Chiriboga, German; Simpson, Shauna M.; Calista, Joanne L.; Marien, Kendra
The ethical principles of respect and justice oblige the use of culturally sensitive approaches when engaging participants in research, however cultural competence training is lacking for researchers who work with LGBTQ populations. The purpose of this study was to explore how researchers can create a welcoming research environment for LGBTQ research participants in the context of historical distrust of medical research as a barrier to research participation among minority populations. Grounded by a framework of communicative competence, this study explored elements of preferred communication during recruitment and informed consent for research involving LGBTQ participants. Grammatical, sociolinguistic, strategic and discourse competence domains aided exploration of the preferences held by participants in LGBTQ sub-groups, as well as the perceived barriers to research. Thirty-six participants, who self-identified as part of the LGBTQ community and were recruited through our community partner, the Center for Health Impact, took part in either focus groups or individual interviews. Preliminary analysis reveals community engagement and building trust are key, particularly in an academic medical center where a patient's clinical experiences may impact their willingness to become a research participant. Participants offered insight into each competence domain, covering: terminology to promote inclusivity, body language to avoid, reducing stigma by being up front and feedback on crafting a more LGBTQ-friendly basic demography questionnaire. These findings will aid in the refinement of an LGBTQ-focused version of our Simulation-based Community-engaged Research Intervention for Informed Consent Protocol Testing and Training (SCRIIPTT) to build communicative competence among clinical researchers.
Addressing Bias in LGBTQIA+ Undergraduate Medical Education: An Innovative and Community Based Approach to Curriculum Reform
(2019-03-22) Austin, John-Marc; Foscolos, Anthony; Bennet, Nancy; Allison, Jeroan J.; Trobaugh, Jules; Austin, John-Marc; Foscolos, Anthony; Bennet, Nancy; Allison, Jeroan J.; Trobaugh, Jules
Background: Individuals who are LGBTQIA+ or gender nonconforming have specific health needs and face health disparities that are exacerbated by a lack of training and cultural sensitivity among health professionals. This study was initiated by a second year University of Massachusetts School of Medicine student in response to the lack of LGBTQIA+ health content in the first year Doctoring & Clinical Skills (DCS1) course. The DCS1 session on collecting a sexual history was selected as the primary focus for revision. Community-Based Participatory Research, because of its emphasis on joining with a community of interest as full and equal partners in all phases of the research process, served as an ideal model for the novel application to curriculum development to address this gap in training in undergraduate medical education. Methods: A sample of 13 LGBTQIA+ community members from Worcester were recruited to form a curriculum advisory committee. The committee convened for two focus-group style meetings where they reviewed the curriculum and had the opportunity to provide their feedback, which was used to rewrite the session. Additionally, the community members had the opportunity to participate in a storytelling video where they discussed their experiences in healthcare as LGBTQIA+ patients. A pre-test post-test design was used to survey the UMMS SOM students in order to evaluate the new version of the DCS1 session. Results: The percentage of M1 students reporting they had the necessary skills to treat LGBTQIA+ patients increased from pre-session to post-session (26.2% (n=130), 63.2% (n=76), p = < 0.001). Compared to current M2 students who completed the course last year (n=65), more MS1 students (n=76) rated the overall quality of the DCS1 session as excellent or good (23.1%, 77.6%, p= < 0.0001. Conclusion: CBPR serves as an efficacious model for the creation of curriculum inclusive of LGBTQIA+ health.
Researcher Trauma in Dangerous Places: Navigating Peril in Physical and Psychological Milieux
(2019-03-22) Robinson, Robin A.; Markowitz, Ariana
Many community-engaged research studies in health and allied health conclude that challenges to individual and public health are mediated by trauma in any of its forms. Researchers who investigate such challenges - e.g., interpersonal violence, sexual abuses and assaults, addictions - may well acquire a traumagenic burden from their research partners, subjects and/or the community milieux in which they conduct their studies, resulting in acute trauma and/or vicarious traumatization (VT). This poster summarizes the content and interactions of a recent workshop on researcher trauma that explored psychodynamics of VT in a translational approach that shows: 1) implications for principal investigators and research staff; 2) education they need about researcher-respondent trauma transmission; and 3) supports that can help to mitigate researcher trauma. We present an interdisciplinary theoretical model to consider how burdens of VT can impact researchers' work, health, and personal lives. How do researchers perceive their work and provisions of care and healing? What are their experiences of the work, and the harm it may promulgate? While VT has been most thoroughly studied amongst psychotherapists who provide individual treatment, a few studies show that VT symptoms and chronicity appear to be quite similar amongst others who work in trauma-saturated environments. Indeed, this workshop advanced our understanding of this and other forms of secondary trauma, and signposted important lessons for the education and practice of researchers engaged, and immersed, in community-engaged health and allied health studies, broadly defined.

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